Former X Factor winner Matt Cardle has admitted he lied about his job when he appeared on the show because “it sounded better”.

The singer, 33, who won the same year that pop megastars One Direction came third, has revealed he pretended to be a painter and decorator and it wasn’t true in the slightest.

Matt has now come clean about his career hoodwink, which was an elaborate tale he was known for up until this point.

“The painting and decorating sorry wasn’t entirely true,” he told Digital Spy . “I was doing anything for cash when I auditioned for that show but that sounded the best. Ha ha.”

Matt Cardle: You won't catch him down Wickes (Image: Getty)

Matt and that smelly hat on The X Factor: a man who definitely couldn't emulsion your hall (Image: SPLASH)

Matt when he won the show, featuring a baby-faced Louis Tomlinson, Aiden Grimshaw and Niall Horan's cheek (Image: Rex)

Back in 2010, on his first audition for the show, Matt told host Dermot O’Leary: “I’ve been working as a painter for a couple of years now - it’s boring and monotonous and I hate it to be honest. I keep myself going by singing.

“This opportunity would mean the end of magnolia all over my face and hands, the end of brushes, the end of hotel rooms and the break I need.”